Editor's Note
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the farm bill being negotiated by the House-Senate conference committee will have a provision legalizing hemp as an agricultural commodity. The hemp legalization provision was included in the Senate's version of the farm bill, but not the House version. It would allow states to regulate hemp, hemp researchers to apply for grants from the Agriculture Department, and make hemp farmers eligible for crop insurance. Negotiations on the farm bill stalled due to an impasse on a provision that would impose new work requirements on the food stamps program and tighten overall eligibility on who can qualify for the federal assistance.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that lawmakers are still trying to iron out a deal on the farm bill, but that a provision legalizing hemp as an agricultural commodity will be in the legislation.

"They will be," McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Friday, asked about the hemp provisions. "If there's a farm bill it will be in there, I guarantee you that. We're trying right now to make sure there's a farm bill and before the end of the year."

The Senate passed its version of the mammoth legislation in July and included provisions to legalize hemp, removing it from the federal list of controlled substances and allowing it to be sold as an agricultural commodity.